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How New York Jews made pickles a big dill

JL;DR SUMMARY New York City's pickle culture, notably influenced by Jewish immigrants on the Lower East Side, is the focus of "The Pickled City: The Story of New York Pickles." A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

KosherJewish CultureNew YorkLower East SideCultural ExchangeImmigrantsPicklesPickling IndustryIzzy GussPaul Van Ravestein

Places mentioned

New York, United States
"Pickles are a favorite food in Jewtown, muckraker Jacob Riis, referring to the Lower East Side, wrote in How the Other Half Lives, his seminal expos on poverty."
Greenlawn, New York, United States
"The book also touches on the pickling history of Long Island, with a mention of a Samuel Ballton Pickle King of Greenlawn, a formerly enslaved man and Union veteran who produced 1.5 million pickles in a single season."
Syosset, New York, United States
"The industry in Syosset was dealt a major blow with a blight called the white pickle disease, and subsequently pivoted to potatoes."
Netherlands
"De Zure Stad (The Sour City) about the pickle history of the Netherlands, pioneered by a different set of Jewish immigrants who were, overwhelmingly, murdered in the Shoah."

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Cairo Item ID 78960
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Retrieved 2026-04-01 05:30:51 UTC
Curated 2026-04-01 08:31:02 UTC